London, England – Tunisia’s intensifying crackdown on opposition leaders and critics imperils society and risks the return of autocracy, years after demonstrations in the North African country were credited with setting off a revolutionary chain reaction across the region, a group of experts, activists and relatives of those detained have warned.
On Monday, Rached Ghannouchi, the Ennahdha president who was arrested in April, was jailed in absentia after being found guilty on charges of incitement.
His party, a self-styled “Muslim democrat” movement, had emerged in 2011 as the largest group in the first parliamentary elections following the removal of protest-hit Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, winning 37 percent of the vote.
But since seizing power in 2021, President Kais Saied, who ran as an independent social conservative, has pressured Ennahdha politicians and his critics.
Since February, more than 20 dissidents, activists, journalists and opposition figures have reportedly been arrested.
Those detained have been accused of various charges, some relating to security, but campaigners and experts have said the charges are often trumped up and that Saied is simply pursuing his critics with abandon.
Anas Altikriti, head of the Cordoba Foundation think tank which focuses on relations between the Muslim world and Western nations, said at Thursday’s forum in London that while the so-called Arab Spring was one of the “most transformative moments of this century”, events now in Tunisia are “killing off” its last remnants.
Ghannoushi’s daughter, Soumaya, attended the discussion and said Saied has “devoured” Tunisia’s democracy bit by bit.
“Tunisia today is a cocktail of festering crises, political, social, financial, economic, its deadly cocktail which risks exploding at any moment,” she said.
“[Saied] feeds the nation a rhetoric of hatred [and] invests in crisis in order to distract the nation,” she added. “That’s the difference between having a normal dictator and a populist dictator.”
“The only hope for Tunisians today is to cross over to the other side of the Mediterranean, throw themselves in death boats and seek escape at any [cost].”
Protesters demonstrate against Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis, Tunisia [File: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Ennahdha has condemned the “unjust decision” against Ghannoushi and other politicians, such as lawmaker Said Ferjani, who was arrested in February, saying the moves are made to mask economic and financial crises leading Tunisia towards bankruptcy.
Seifeddine Ferjani, son of the jailed politician, said, “There are deeply worrying signs of the way Tunisia operates now, such as using anti-terror squads to arrest liberal dissidents, socialist dissidents.
“I think that Tunisia is a ticking time bomb [and] the danger is underrepresented.”
Conservative legislator Crispin Blunt hosted the discussions, which also featured Rodney Dixon KC, a British lawyer leading a case aimed at sanctioning Saied.
Several leading political figures accused Saied of a coup, for moving to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution.
In a video message published on his Facebook page last month, Ghannouchi said, “We are facing another episode of political targeting by judicial means.”
“We do not have a problem with the judiciary, but we do have a problem with dictatorship. The battle in the country is between democracy and dictatorship, which wants to confiscate the gains of our blessed revolution.”
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Soumaya told Al Jazeera that her father, who was arrested on the 27th night of Ramadan, one of the holiest dates of the Muslim calendar, was in “good health” and that her mother has been able to visit him.
“It’s not his first time in jail. He’s been in jail under three dictators so far,” she said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
